Much of the discontent surrounding the proposed Michael
Bisping-Georges St.
Pierre UFC middleweight title fight came from the fact that the
promotion's No. 1 middleweight contender, Yoel Romero,
had both earned his spot and was a serious threat to Bisping's
title reign. Now that the Ultimate Fighting Championship has pumped
the breaks on Bisping-GSP and are angling for Bisping-Romero this
summer, oddsmakers agree.

The initial odds for the
yet-to-be-scheduled bout between Bisping and Romero have been
released by multiple sportsbooks, pegging the Cuban challenger
between a 3-to-1 and a 4-to-1 favorite. Bovada opened Romero at
-300 to Bisping's +230, while Sportsbook tapped “The Soldier of
God” at -360 to Bisping's +280.

Shortly after St. Pierre announced he had signed a new contract
with the UFC in late February, the promotion revealed it was
working towards Bisping-GSP for the 185-pound crown in what would
have been St. Pierre's first bout since defeating Johny
Hendricks at UFC 167 in November 2013. After St. Pierre
insisted he would not fight until after October, UFC President Dana
White said the promotion could've wait for “Rush” to be available
and would go ahead with Bisping-Romero.

No date or venue has been announced for Bisping-Romero, though the
UFC is still targeting UFC 213 on July 8 in Las Vegas, Nevada or
UFC 214 on July 29 in Anaheim, California.

“The Count” opened as a +260 underdog to Luke
Rockhold before UFC 199 last June, when the Brit shockingly
knocked Rockhold out to take the UFC crown. For his title defense
against MMA legend Dan
Henderson four months later at UFC 204, Bisping opened at
-230.

The 40-year-old Romero, a 2000 Olympic silver medalist in freestyle
wrestling, opened as a betting underdog in his previous four UFC
fights. After being a slight underdog and nearly even money against
Tim
Kennedy prior to their September 2014 clash, the American Top
Team fighter opened at +145, +130 and +235 against Lyoto
Machida, “Jacare” Ronaldo
Souza and Chris
Weidman respectively.